Jonas (Darkness #7)(32)

“No!” Jonas yelled. He looked at the building, trying to find a ledge or something to climb up on. Gauging the distance between him and the white mage. It was too far to throw a sword. He turned to Emmy. “Can you throw a knife?”

Emmy took out a knife and jogged to the side, out from under the overhang. A male rushed toward her. A furry gray body interceded, taking the man down, but another was there. Jonas lunged but Emmy had already turned and stuck her knife in his throat.

The spell was a white arrow, created and waiting on the order to send. Nathanial leaned forward with bent arms. Here came the push.

The strangled yell got caught in Jonas’ throat as the spell burst forward. A loud boom sounded, like a gunshot. Nathanial staggered back as red blossomed on his shoulder—Paulie had shot him. The spell was already let loose, though.

“C’mon!” Jonas screamed. He grabbed Emmy and yanked her with him. He stabbed and clawed his way through enemy as if they were papier-mâché. Emmy rallied right behind him, clearing out the cluster with precise whip-strikes to vital areas. Still that spell fell.

The cluster of people around Sasha broke up. Warriors staggered and crawled out of the way. Running from that spell. A hole was left in the middle where three people stood. One small human, and her two large bodyguards, staring at that spell descending straight for them.

“Sasha!” Jonas recognized the Boss’ hoarse scream. It was distant, though. The Boss couldn’t help this time. No one could.

* * *

I stared at that arrow of death. The spell whirled and twirled. Nathanial had taken his time with this one. Concocted an exquisite torture device that would melt off my skin and boil my bones. Very pleasant.

Time slowed down. I heard Jonas scream for me from somewhere, and then Stefan. Good, they’re still alive.

My gaze rose to the man on the ledge. Red squeezed up through his fingers as he held his shoulder. A condescending smile was aimed down at me.

Rage boiled up. And then cleared. I remembered the feel of his magic from the spell around the building. I recalled how he constructed his traps. His viciousness and showmanship.

Showmanship.

He was intricate, but did that help anything? Or was it just lipstick and mascara?

I felt that spell hurtling toward me. I thought about the components and what he was trying to do. I remembered the way Cato dressed up my crude spells and added flourishes and embellishments. Mine and Cato’s had only necessary elements.

Half the crap in that arrow wasn’t necessary. It was showmanship. It was stroking a huge ego.

Sweat beaded my brow as that thing thundered down toward me. I had five heartbeats.

I closed my eyes and forced Cato and my magic into that spell. I rooted around. I felt things. I played. I toyed. I just felt.

Like a flash of light in the darkness, it suddenly made sense. His thinking, his way of bending magic, his flourish—it made sense. And it still had the crude base, it was just covered with the sleight of hand and trickery of a Las Vegas show.

I’d never be able to disentangle, but I could alter. I could change a few major components in the hardwiring to render it into a completely different kind of spell.

I ripped and gouged with my now-balanced magic. I knocked the spell off-kilter and then stuffed in changes. I soaked the thing in the perfect yin and yang of Cato and my link. And then I held my breath.

The arrow fell onto me like a puff of dragon breath. It billowed out and around Charles, Paulie and I, and then detonated. Instead of an acid pour, the air around us erupted in sparkles. Pinks and blues and purples, it was like a rave and glitter party rolled into one.

“What the hell? I look like a chick!” Charles stared down at his shimmery hands.

“At least you’re not dead. Send him back something terrible, Sasha, and let’s get under cover.” Paulie glanced down at his gun, which had started to smoke and sputter. It was only a matter of time before the heat spell reacted with the gunpowder in the bullets. But the shot had been worth it.

I rolled a collection of Toa’s delights into a tight ball, with my special touch, and sent it off. Nathanial would unravel it, since I didn’t have that protective flourish around it, but it would take him a minute. I glanced back at Cato, who was staring out at me. He gave me one nod. Then he shifted his focus back to Nathanial.

He’d seen what I did, and he’d probably be pretty sparkly himself soon.

I started running toward the door. “Let’s get to that * and take him out with something sharp!”

Chapter Ten

Jonas saw Sasha sprinting toward the building with a mostly clear line. No one had recovered as quickly as she had—the original spell must’ve been a real nasty one. The enemy seemed to know what to expect. But it hadn’t landed.

With a grin, Jonas started sprinting to meet her. Emmy kept right at his side, wielding her whip better than most people would use a sword or pencil. She slashed and cut people ten feet away and had them flinching to the sides as she, Jonas and three wolves ran through.

Ten feet now. He could see Sasha’s dirty and determined face. Charles, blood-spattered and gritty, stabbed a large male guarding one of the entrances. And then Jonas was upon them. He stabbed a female in the back, ripped her out of the way, and burst into the space of Paulie. The halfsie spun and thrust a sword toward Jonas’ gut.

“It’s me, human!” Jonas growled as he knocked the strike aside. “Damn you’re slow.”